Mark Bain – Burden of proof, Sonic Suitcase

Bain is a Dutch-American artist with a keen interest in vibrational mechanisms and experimental sound. His work zeroes in on the interaction of acoustics, architecture and physical/mental reactions to infrasonics – sounds thats sit below the human hearing threshold. For StartEndTime, Bain used specially-designed technologies to transform seismographic data recordings in the area of New York State during the collapse of the WTC buildings at 9/11 into sound waves, in effect ‘giving voice’ to the extended ramifications of the tragedy. With the Spuiplein as his canvas, Bain has created a new sound piece for TodaysArt 2016. In Burden of Proof, The Sonic Suitcase, a heavy and seemingly abandoned suitcase produces a loud, but muffled siren when brought into motion. The work is a reflection of the hysteria that comes to pass when an unidentified object is encountered in public space.